European Parliament

UNHCR:Facts and Figures on RefugeesNumber of forcibly displaced worldwide: 59.5 million Number of Refugees There were 19.5 million refugees worldwide at the end of 2014, 14.4 million under the mandate of UNHCR, around 2.9 million more than in 2013. The other 5.1 million Palestinian refugees are registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). During the year, conflict and persecution forced an average of 42,500 persons per day to leave their homes and seek protection elsewhere, either within the borders of their countries or in other countries. Developing countries host over 86% of the world’s refugees, compared to 70% ten years ago.

Court of Justice of the EUSince the establishment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in 1952, its mission has been to ensure that "the law is observed" "in the interpretation and application" of the Treaties. As part of that mission, the Court of Justice of the European Union: reviews the legality of the acts of the institutions of the European Union, ensures that the Member States comply with obligations under the Treaties, and interprets European Union law at the request of the national courts and tribunals. The Court thus constitutes the judicial authority of the European Union and, in cooperation with the courts and tribunals of the Member States, it ensures the uniform application and interpretation of European Union law.The Court of Justice of the European Union, which has its seat in Luxembourg, consists of three courts: the Court of Justice, the General Court (created in 1988) and the Civil Service Tribunal (created in 2004).

Global Voices · Europe in Crisis‘Sad Euro walrus’ emoticon Table of Contents This special coverage aims to give a voice to ordinary people living with the social, political and financial consequences of Europe's financial bailouts. We look to Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and other European countries affected by the banking crisis and Euro crisis. The democratic deficit is growing in countries making bailout agreements, and citizens are voicing their pent-up frustrations with protests and new people's movements. Protests and so-called “revolutions” across Europe in 2011 are evidence of widespread discontent with the handling of economic crisis.

Spiral Complexity DynamicsChris Lucas "At each stage of human existence the adult man is off on his quest of his holy grail, the way of life he seeks by which to live... As he sets off on each quest, he believes he will find the answer to his existence. Yet, much to his surprise and much to his dismay, he finds at every stage that the solution to existence is not the solution he has come to find. Every stage he reaches leaves him disconcerted and perplexed. It is simply that as he solves one set of human problems he finds a new set in their place.

The rise of political bots on social mediaAlmost every Twitter user will have come across bots. Your new follower whose profile picture is the generic egg, and who posts exactly once a day vague words of wisdom in 140 characters, is most probably such an automated account. Very common are spam bots for commercial purposes. Others are more creative: The @MagicRealismBot (with close to 40,000 followers, certainly including a good number of bots) has been programmed to randomly build and tweet sentences every two hours that imitate the writings of magic realist novelists such as Jorge Luis Borges or Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The rise of bots has thrown up a wide range of new issues. Last year, it was reported that a Dutch web developer was called in for questioning by police after their bot had, in a similarly random manner, put together a statement (tweeted at another bot, incidentally) which an internet detective read as a death threat.

Plan of the HemicycleFor plenary sittings, the 766 Members of the European Parliament meet in the Chambers in Strasbourg and Brussels. How are the seats allocated ? The rules which determine the allocation of seats in each Chamber are laid down by the Conference of Presidents: Members of the European Parliament form groups based on their political affinity, not on their nationality.The Chairs of political groups sit in the first row in the semi-circle opposite the President of the European Parliament.The third row is usually occupied by Bureau members (Vice-Presidents and Quaestors).Within the political groups, the remaining seats are generally allocated in alphabetical order. Chamber seating plans The two plans contain:

Schengen AreaThe Schengen Area is the area comprising 26 European countries that have abolished passport or any other type of border control in-between their common borders, also referred to as internal borders. It functions as a single country for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy. The Area is named after the Schengen Agreement. Countries in the Schengen Area have eliminated internal border controls with the other Schengen members, and strengthened external border controls with non-Schengen states. The Schengen area encourages the free movement of goods, information, money and people.

Holarchic Meta-Ethics and Complexity ScienceHolarchic Meta-Ethics and Complexity Science Chris Lucas "It appears to me that in Ethics, as in all other philosophical studies, the difficulties and disagreements, of which history is full, are mainly due to a very simple cause: namely to the attempt to answer questions, without first discovering precisely what question it is which you desire to answer."G. E.Top Ten Reasons Why Kids Under the Age of 18 Should Be Allowed to Vote In Government Elections - TheTopTens®BlueTopazIceVanilla This is my second list I thought up for a while, and it's kind of a sister to my other list: Top Ten Reasons Why Kids Should Get Paid to Go to School. IMPORTANT NOTE: I am NOT saying that kids on TheTopTens can't vote, and that they should be able to. I'm saying that kids SHOULD BE ABLE TO VOTE ON OFFICIAL ELECTIONS (state, city, country elections e.t.c.)

The Schengen area and cooperationDuring the 1980s, a debate began over the meaning of free movement of persons. Some Member States felt the concept should apply to European Union (EU) citizens only, which would involve keeping internal border checks in order to distinguish between citizens of the EU and non-EU nationals. Others argued in favour of free movement for everyone, which would mean an end to internal border checks altogether. Since Member States could not reach agreement, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands decided in 1985 to create a territory without internal borders.List of forms of governmentEver wondered what all those ...ocracies and ...archies were? Seek no further than RationalWiki's list of forms of government. Anarchism A form of government (or lack thereof) with no ruling hierarchy, instead decisions are made at a directly democratic level: laws are created by citizens alone, although they may be enforced by institutions that are not publicly controlled. Anarcho-capitalism A stateless society composed of sovereign individuals living within the constraints of a corporatist market.